After extending his championship lead at the previous round in Most, Dirk Geiger⁠ and TEAM APRECO⁠ arrived at Oschersleben determined to continue their winning momentum. The weekend started exactly as planned, with Geiger once again setting the benchmark aboard the Yamaha R9⁠.

However, a precautionary engine change after SSP Race 1 ultimately turned Sunday’s second race into a damage limitation exercise in the championship battle.

Pole position after challenging qualifying

Changing weather conditions limited Geiger’s track time during the opening qualifying session, leaving the team with little opportunity to work on the bike setup. Everything came down to Q2, where the championship contender delivered a stunning 1:26.549 lap to secure pole position by more than seven tenths of a second over Daniel Blin.

“The weekend actually went very well. We started strongly and kept finding small improvements. Qualifying was a bit unfortunate because we couldn’t really test anything in Q1 due to the wet conditions, but in Q2 we managed to put together a really good lap.”

Perfect execution delivers another SSP Race 1 victory

Starting from pole position, Geiger made a perfect launch and immediately controlled the race from the front. Consistently setting the pace, he crossed the finish line 1.946 seconds ahead of teammate Lennox Lehmann⁠ , while also recording the race’s fastest lap with a 1:26.857. The result marked another dominant one-two finish for TEAM APRECO⁠ and further strengthened Geiger’s title challenge.

“I had a perfect start and could really push during the opening laps. After that I was able to manage the pace and control the race.”

Precautionary engine change leads to pit lane penalty

Following SSP Race 1, Geiger reported a slight loss of power and additional vibrations during the closing laps. Data analysis later confirmed the unusual behavior, but the exact cause could not be determined without opening the sealed engine.

Although the team was confident the engine could likely have completed the weekend, TEAM APRECO⁠ chose not to take any risks. As a precaution, the second engine was replaced by Geiger’s third engine of the season before Sunday’s second race.

Under the EURO MOTO Supersport regulations, deploying a third engine automatically results in a mandatory pit lane start. Consequently, Geiger was required to start SSP Race 2 from the pit lane in Oschersleben and will also have to start SSP Race 1 in Assen from the pit lane.

“Safety comes first. We didn’t want to take any unnecessary risk. Although we were confident Dirk could have finished Race 2 with the second engine, replacing it was the right decision,” the team explained in an official statement.

Strong recovery limits championship damage

Following the overnight engine change, Geiger lined up for Sunday’s second race from the pit lane. Although the team had the bike fully prepared, the mandatory penalty left him several seconds behind the field before reaching Turn 1, turning the race into a recovery ride from the very beginning.

Nevertheless, the German immediately began carving his way through the pack. Setting a fastest race lap of 1:26.963, just over two tenths slower than Daniel Blin’s race-winning pace, Geiger recovered to fourth place, limiting the damage in the championship standings despite the difficult circumstances.

“Starting from the pit lane meant I was miles behind the others, so I just focused on catching them one by one and making my way through the field. I’m not completely happy with my pace, especially in the first part of the race, but towards the end it felt much better. In the end, we got the maximum out of the situation. Huge thanks to the whole team for getting the bike ready again.”

Championship fight tighter than ever

Despite winning SSP Race 1, the mandatory pit lane start in the second race proved costly in the title battle. Geiger leaves Oschersleben second in the EURO MOTO Supersport standings with 143 points, just one point behind championship leader Daniel Blin.

With another mandatory pit lane start awaiting him in SSP Race 1 at Assen, the championship remains completely open heading into the next round!

Pictures by Damon Teerink